Improvement in car-starters



L. C. RUDIERKL F. G. BATES;

Gar-Starters.

No. 138,440. PatentedApril29,1873.

AM. PHO 101mm mam/c ca rm usamws's moms) UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS RODIER AND FRANCIS G. BATES, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHU- SETTS, ASSIGNORS TO THEMSELVES, RUFUS BAKER, OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT, AND WILLARD PARKER, OF NEW YORK, N.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-STARTERS- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 138,440, dated April 29, 1873 application filed April 3, 1873. a

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LOUIS 0. Roman and FRANCIS G. BATES, of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new Improvement in Car-Starter; and we do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawing constitutes part of this specification, and represents, in-

Figure 1, a sectional view of the frame, showing the side of the starting device Fig. 2, a top view of the same; and in Fig. 3, a longitudinal plane section.

This invention relates to an improvement in device to facilitate the starting of street or other railway cars; and it consists in the arrangement of a ratchet or toothed wheel upon the axle, combined with a lever loose upon the axle, and with a sliding pawl on the said lever to engage the teeth of the said ratchet, combined with a device for withdrawing the pawl from its connection with the teeth of the ratchet after the pawl has performed its office.

A is the axle, to which the wheels B are applied, the axle attached to the frame-work C in the usual manner. On the axle, at a convenient point, a ratchet or toothed wheel, D, is firmly secured, and near the said wheel a lever, E, is arranged loose upon the axle, but held in its position transversely byvsuitable collars on the axle. Attached to this lever is a rod, F, which extends forward, its outer end provided with suitable means G for coupling therefore, by drawing the rod F forward from the position in Fig. 1 to that denoted in broken lines, the lever E will turn with it, as also denoted in broken lines. Through this lever a pawl, a, passes, having a suitable spring ap plied thereto, the tendency of which is to hold the pawl against the teeth of the ratchet, as seen in Fig. 3. Outside the lever a head, d, is formed upon this pawl, back of which an arm, L, from the rod F enters. When thrown back, as in Fig. l, the width of this arm allows the pawl to lie or work in connection with the teeth on the ratchet. This arm, however, widens a little distance back from the forward end, and as the lever is drawn forward the wider portion of this arm. passes in behind the head of the pawl and draws it from connection with the teeth of the ratchet, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 3. In this extreme forward position a bolt, b, or other convenient device, catches and holds the rod in that position, an elastic collar, N, being applied to the lever, against which the draft comes in the movement of the car. On the stopping of the car this latch or bolt 6 is drawn, which frees the rod F, so that a spring, M, or equivalent device, will instantly draw the rod and lever back to the position seen in Fig. 2, the pawl re-engaging in the teeth of the ratchet, so that, on starting, the power is applied through the lever E and wheel D directly to the axle, afl'ording such an increase of leverage that the power required for starting is very much reduced.

We claim as our invention- In combination with a toothed wheel I) on the axle of a railway car, the lever E, carrying the pawl 64, and the rod F for actuating the said lever, the cam-shaped arm L for withdrawing the pawl, substantially in the manner described.

LOUIS C. RODIER. FRANCIS G. BATES. Witnesses:

J. W. BROWNE, L. H. PEASE. 

